


Necessary Precautions

by ceitean



Category: Push (2009)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:09:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5470856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceitean/pseuds/ceitean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassie has learned to always have a back-up plan. Even against her own mother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Necessary Precautions

Cassie and Nick were in New York, the day before they made their final move against Division.

It would have been better if they didn’t have to wait - lingering in the States was dangerous, though New York at least had enough population to get lost in as long as you were careful. But there were preparations that needed to be made. Taking down a covert government agency built on the backs of some of the strongest psychics in the world needed at least a _little_ bit of planning. If this worked, they would finally be able to make a crippling blow against Division. It was worth the risk.

And anyway, Cassie had her own pieces to put into play.

They had barely settled into their dingy motel room when Cassie informed Nick that she was going out for a walk.

"Are you drunk again?" Nick asked.

“It’ll be fine. I won't leave Mei's Shadow.” An easy promise to make, considering Mei could Shadow an entire city block and she didn't plan on going far. Cassie and Nick had been lucky - they had made a number of useful friends over the years. "I'll be careful."

“I know you will,” Nick said. “But maybe now’s not the time for sightseeing. If Division gets wind of us today…”

“They won’t find me,” Cassie said, slipping her notebook into her bag. It was the third one she'd gone through that month, for all the good it had done her. Cassie's powers had gotten stronger with practice and use, but the closer they got to New York, the less able she was to nail down a solid picture. The future kept changing. She tried not to think about it. “And I won’t be sightseeing. You can still show me all your old stomping grounds when this is over.” As long as they stayed away from Coney Island. Cassie didn’t think she wanted to go there any time soon.

“Alright,” Nick said. He tilted his head at her, blue eyes serious. She tried not to hold his gaze too long. “Be careful.”

“Always am.” And then she left the room, and made herself not look back.

***

Kira was waiting for her on a bench in the park just around the corner.

Cassie took a bracing breath and walked toward her, fighting the urge to adjust her sunglasses. They weren’t foolproof protection - especially not against Kira, damn that serum - but every little bit helped against a Push. If nothing else, the years on the run had bred caution into the marrow of Cassie’s bones.

Kira was dressed simply - just a young woman in the city, waiting to meet up with a friend. She had a new haircut. Cassie was pretty sure the slight bulge hidden by her purse was a shoulder holster.

Cassie settled on the bench, leaving a nice little space between the two of them. She pulled a couple snacks out of her bag and held one out in Kira's direction. A peace offering. “Here, have one. I swear it’s not poisoned.”

With a soft huff, Kira took the snack from Cassie’s hand. Looked like they were going to be civilized for once. “Is meeting like this wise?”

“No,” Cassie said flatly. “But it’s necessary.” Cassie had learned all about _necessity_ the last few years, too.

Even after Hong Kong, Cassie and Kira never really managed to get along. Largely because, in Cassie’s experience, Kira caused havoc and aggravation and endless complications everywhere she went. And she made Nick stupid. Nick didn’t agree with Cassie's perspective, but Nick was clearly still a little brain damaged when it came to Kira.

The lack of fellow feeling was mutual. Kira seemed to find Cassie bothersome, a kid scrambling for attention (as _if_ ) while each passing day had Cassie finding Kira's very existence borderline infuriating. When Cassie and Nick were holed up in Delhi (traveling as brother and sister, a simple arrangement Cassie had started to find... chafing every time they used it), Kira had showed up and then stuck around for two agonizing weeks. She hadn't even been _useful_. Kira Hudson may have hated Division more than anyone, but she wasn't known for cooperating well with others. And she certainly didn't care one single bit about helping to free Cassie's mother.

She did seem to like jumping in and out of Nick's bed whenever it pleased her, though. The only thing Cassie found more infuriating than seeing Kira leave his room in the morning was watching Nick get that broken, almost helpless look when he watched her go. It made her want to _shake_ him, made her want to - 

So maybe some of Cassie's problem with Kira had to do with jealousy. Fine. She could deal with that, _had_ been dealing with that. Cassie didn't allow herself the luxury of daydreams very often. Luckily, Kira had kept her ‘visits’ sporadic and short over the last few years.

Cassie wished she would never have to deal with Kira and her complications and the way she made Nick _so stupid_ ever again, but here she was, meeting with Kira in a little corner park while Nick had no idea. 

Necessity.

“It’s about tomorrow,” Cassie said.

“Yes?” Kira said, smoothing out the wrinkles in the snack wrapper.

"Things are going to get dangerous very soon. I'm trying to keep Nick safe."

"And you're _his_ protector now? Are you going to follow him around like a little duck for the rest of your life? That has to get tiresome after a while."

“Unlike some people," Cassie gritted out, "I care enough to stick around instead of jumping in and out of his life, like you’re punishing for something _he didn’t even do._ ”

Kira hummed and tilted her head. “I thought you would have gotten over that crush by now.”

 _It’s not a crush,_ she wanted to say, but she held it back. Maturity, she had it.

Cassie took a breath. “You know about my mother. You've heard about how powerful she is.” She licked her lips. “I’m not at her level. I’m nowhere close. But I’ve started to notice…patterns. In what she planned for, what she took steps to protect. What she found to be expendable.”

Like a man on the run with his child. One of the best Movers of his generation, all his power and potential reduced to passing on a single message to his son.

_Someday a girl is going to give you a flower._

Nick had told her that story in Macau, just after Hong Kong. He had seemed - not fine, but accepting of it. Like it was just the first inevitable step that put him on the road to fight against Division.

(The first step that brought him to Cassie.)

But Cassie was a Watcher. She knew how easy 'inevitability' could be bent to serve your own purpose. It was just another instance of Cassie’s mother (because it had to have been her mother, it was always her mother) setting the stage and putting the right pieces in play. Sacrifice the rook so the pawn could become a queen. The thought that Nick's father had been led to die just so - .

For a long time, Cassie tried not to think about it.

But then there was Singapore. That had been close, so close. Nick should have died that day, Cassie _Saw_ him die page after page in her notebook. He lived, thank God she had seen a way to save him though it had put her own life in danger, the slimmest chance of salvation right at the last moment. Then, as they were escaping, they found someone waiting for them on the street.

His name was Martinez. An expat Pyro with military training and a nice smile, a good man who was even better in a fight. He helped them flee Division that day. He had two tickets in his pocket for an immediate flight out of the city. One was in Cassie's name. The other was in his own.

Cassie had been walking through Delphine Holmes’ machinations all her life. She knew the signs.

In a Watcher's eyes, Nick was Cassie's protector. Her knight. His purpose was to keep Cassie safe, to be the strong arm that fought Division for her. But while Nick may have been the first choice - especially in the beginning back in Hong Kong - there were still other options. Other people, other potential defenders, had been lined up in the wings to take his place if he were to die.

Kira asked, "Does it matter what we do if your mother's already pulling all our strings? Isn't she Watching over all of us?"

"No," Cassie said softly. "She's not."

In Delphine Holmes’ eyes, Nick was important, but he wasn’t necessary. Not anymore.

And that was unacceptable.

"She's got her eyes on the prize. All that matters is the endgame," Cassie said. "And this close to the end...certain pieces are going to become expendable. All I want is to make sure Nick makes it out of this alive.”

That made Kira sit up straight. “You're saying she'd let him die.”

“No. Not exactly. But I think that she has priorities and that Nick is not at the top of her list.” Cassie risked a glance at Kira. “But he is on mine. And for all that you have a real funny way of showing it sometimes, I know he’s on yours.”

Kira tilted her head. Cassie made sure to avoid her eyes. “So you want to play the odds against your mother?”

“More like, I want to be sure I have a back-up plan in case things go south in a way none of us can predict.”

“Don’t you think she would have seen us having this conversation?” Kira asked.

“Probably. Almost certainly.” 

Kira was silent for a moment. Then she said, her voice soft as ever, “I have no problem watching out for Nick tomorrow. But I have my own priorities. I won’t let Division take me again. No matter what.”

“Understood.” And that was the best Cassie could hope for from Kira. It had to be enough. She crumpled up her wrapper. “Glad we had this talk.”

Kira had a faint smile on her face. “I notice you’re not all that concerned about _me_ not being high on your mother’s priority list.”

Cassie cocked an eyebrow. “I’m sure you can take of yourself.”

That got her a full smirk. _There_ was the con artist Nick had fallen in love with at Coney Island. Cassie managed to keep her lip from curling.

“Goodbye, Cassie.”

“Goodbye, Kira.”

Cassie turned to head back to the motel and to Nick. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So I can't quite see Cassie/Nick happening before she's at least twenty (and maybe after they've spent at least a little bit of time apart from each other). For all that years have passed since the events of Push, Cassie is still a teenager in this (which really shows how young she was in the movie, wow), so the Cassie/Nick vibes here are more implied than concrete, and largely on Cassie's side at this point. I hope that's okay! There's definitely room in the future for ~possibilities, but for right now they've gotta deal with taking down an omnipotent corrupt government agency first, as you do.
> 
> I hope you have a very happy holiday season! <3


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